It has become more and more common that portable electronic devices—particularly mobile phones—include flip-type solutions, in which the electronic device may be set to transport state when the device is not used temporarily. This type of solution enables the device to have a small size and a large display compared to the size of the device.
Such an electronic device may comprise two displays, of which the primary display is intended for the principal use of the device when the device is in its operational state. Being set to transport state, the display of the device is usually covered to protect the display unit from scratching. A secondary display may be a display which is considerably smaller and mainly serves only as an informative display informing the user of time, for instance. If the electronic device is a mobile phone, the secondary display may inform the user of the caller's name and/or telephone number or of the received calls or messages. Thus, the user cannot apply functions or applications of the device when the device is in transport state, because the secondary display only provides unidirectional interaction with the user.
Nokia Communicator® includes a solution, in which the electronic device comprises two displays, of which the larger, i.e. primary display is used when the device is in principal operational state, i.e. when the device is used as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). The smaller, i.e. secondary display is used when the device is in transport state, i.e. when the device mainly serves as a mobile phone. In this solution, the secondary display may also be used for bidirectional interaction with the user. The user may use the secondary display unit for carrying out procedures relating to call and message handling.